Russia's Hmeymim Air Base in Syria has been subject to a massive drone attack, with unmanned aerial vehicles having been piloted by a US Poseidon 8 surveillance aircraft, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin stated, without specifying when exactly the assault took place.

According to Fomin, the Russian airbase has once been attacked by 13 combat drones simultaneously, with a US Poseidon 8 aircraft flying over the Mediterranean Sea for about eight hours at that time. Fomin indicated that the drones can work both in an autonomous and manual mode.

"The Poseidon 8, equipped with modern technology, was in manual control [over the drones]," Fomin indicated, speaking at the Xiangshan Forum on security in Beijing.

He added that when the drones faced the radioelectric barrier of the Russian equipment, they were ordered to fly a specific distance away from it.

Terrorists in Syria can detect radio waves at which Russian aviation operates, the Deputy Defense Minister stated.

"I would like to say that terrorists [in Syria] have the technical possibilities of reaching the radio waves at which our aviation operates. Special equipment is needed for this," Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin noted.

The deputy defense minister emphasized that this equipment was not made from scratch in the Syrian desert.

The Syrian Armed Forces, supported by Russian Aerospace Forces, have managed to purge terrorists from virtually the entire territory of the Middle Eastern country, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Thursday.

"Over the past years, the Syrian government's forces supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces managed to liberate virtually the entire territory of the country from the terrorists of the Daesh* terrorist group and the groups that have joined them," Fomin said at the Xiangshan Forum on security in Beijing.

Normalcy is being restored in Syria as the country's citizens are returning to their homes, the official pointed out.

Alexander Fomin also stressed that terrorists should not be negotiated with and should be killed far beyond a country's borders.

"You cannot make deals with terrorists, you should only destroy them. There are no good or bad terrorists. They should be liquidated 'in the far reaches' instead of waiting until they multiply and come to our house… That is why, not for a single second have we hesitated when in September 2015, the legitimate Syrian government invited Russia, acting through the Aerospace Forces, to come help in liquidating international terrorists in this country," Fomin said.

The civil war in Syria broke out in 2011 and has since forced millions of Syrian refugees to flee from violence and destruction in the country. Russia along with Turkey and Iran are guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria. Moscow has also been supporting the government forces' fight against terrorist groups and providing humanitarian aid to civilians.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday that the situation in the Middle East was destabilized by the actions of the West, which has made it possible to create a stronghold of terrorism in Syria. Shoigu also stressed that with the help of Russia, it was possible to reverse the situation in Syria and crush large terrorist formations, as well as to liberate key settlements and unlock vital communications.

*Daesh, also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS is a terrorist group banned in Russia

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